E 

£351 


EDO 


AN   ADDRESS 


BY 


MRS.  JOHN  CASE  PHELPS, 


DELIVERED  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  ERECTION,  OF  A 

AT  LAUREL  RUN,  LUZERNE  COUNTY,  PENNSYLVANIA, 

SEPTEMBER  12,  1896, 

TO   MARK   THE   SPOT  WHERE 

CAPTAIN  JOSEPH  DAVIS  AND  LIEUTENANT  WILLIAM  JONES, 

OF  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  LINE, 

WERE  SLAIN  BY  THE  INDIANS  APRIL  23,  1779, 

WITH  A  SKETCH  OF  THESE  TWO  OFFICERS 
BY 

REV.  HORACE  EDWIN  HAYDEN,  M.  A., 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY  OF  THE  WYOMING  HISTORICAL  AND  GEOLOGICAL  SOOIKTY. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY, 
WILKES-BARRE,  PA. 

1897. 


K.   B.  YORDY,   PRINTKR, 
WILKES-BARRE,    PA. 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  ERECTION  OF  A  MONUMENT 
AT  LAUREL  RUN,  LUZERNE  COUNTY,  PENNSYLVANIA, 

SEPTEMBER  12,  1896, 

TO  MARK  THE  SPOT  WHERE 

CAPTAIN  JOSEPH  DAVIS  AND  LIEUTENANT  WILLIAM  JONES 

OK  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  LINE, 

WERE  SLAIN  BY  THE  INDIANS  APRIL  23,  1779. 

BY 

MRS.  JOHN   CASE  PHELPS. 


680421 


"  WYNDCLIFFE," 

Laurel  Run,  Pa.t  Sept.  12,  i< 


ORDER  OF   EXERCISES 

AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF  A 
MEMORIAL  STONE 

TO    THE 

OFFICERS  AND  SOLDIERS  OF  GEN.  SULLIVAN'S  ARMY, 
MURDERED  BY  THE  INDIANS,  NEAR  INDIAN  SPRING, 

APRIL  23,  1779. 


MUSIC, ALEXANDER'S  BAND. 

SONG— Hail  Columbia, - 

INVOCATION, BY  REV.  F.  B.  HODGE,  D.  D. 

SONG — Star  Spangled  Banner, — 

HISTORICAL  PAPER, READ  KY  MR.  FRANCIS  A.  PHELPS. 

SONG— My  Country 'Tis  of 'ihee, 

PRESENTATION, BY  MR.  ZIBA  BENNETT  PHELPS. 

SONG— Columbia, - 

BENEDICTION, BY  REV.  H.  H.  WELLES,  D.  D. 

MUSIC ALEXANDER'S  BAND. 


Officers  and  Members  of  the  Wyoming  Historical  and  Geo 
logical  Society ;  Gentlemen  of  the  Wyoming  Valley 
Section  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the 
Revolution  ;  Ladies  of  the  Wyoming  Valley  Chapter 
of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  ;  Colo 
nial  Dames  ;  Neighbors  and  Friends  : 

We  have  met  this  day  to  dedicate  a  memorial  stone  to 
the  memory  of  Capt.  Joseph  Davis  of  the  Eleventh  Penn 
sylvania  regiment,  Lieut.  William  Jones  of  a  Delaware  regi 
ment,  and,  as  some  accounts  state  it,  Corporal  Butler  .and 
three  privates,  belonging  to  a  detachment  of  soldiers  of  tl}e 
Revolutionary  army  under  the  command  of  Majpr-ije^e.r^^ 
John  Sullivan.  Generally  in  the  records  we  find  it  stated 
thus, — Captain  Davis,  Lieutenant  Jones  and  three  privates  ; 
so  whether  the  bodies  of  three  or  four  soldiers  lie  here  will 
always  be  a  mooted  question — like  that  of  the  number  of 
his  children  who  followed  John  Rogers  to  the  stake.  Per 
haps  some  of  you  will  ask — "are  you  sure  any  bones  of  Revo 
lutionary  soldiers  lie  near  this  place?  Is  this  the  spring 
near  the  Laurel  Run  where  the  savages  waited  in  ambush 
for  the  gallant  little  band  ?"  In  order  to  answer  the  question, 
and  prove  our  right  to  erect  the  memorial  on  this  spot,  we 
must  ask  you  to  bear  with  us  as  we  bring  the  testimony  of 
many  witnesses.  We  have  searched  the  "Records,"  and 
from  "The  Journals  of  the  Military  Expedition  of  Major- 
General  John  Sullivan  against  the  Six  Nations,"  edited  by 
Mr.  Frederick  Cook,  at  that  time  Secretary  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  we  can  bring  several  interesting  accounts  to 
prove  our  case. 

It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  General  Washington  had 
determined  to  send  a  force  into  the  Indian  country  sufficient, 
at  one  blow,  to  break  up  the  savage  haunts  where  these 
great  barbarities  were  planned,  and  the  depredators  were 
harbored. 


He  wrote  to  General  Gates,  March  6,  1779,  offering  him 
the  command  of  the  army  of  invasion,  with  a  letter  enclosed 
and  directed  to  General  Sullivan,  giving  him  the  appoint 
ment  if  Gates  should  decline  it,  with  directions  to  the  latter 
to  forward  the  letter  to  Sullivan.  Gates  declined  the  com 
mand  in  these  words : 

"Last  night  I  had  the  honour  of  your  Excellency's  letter. 
The  man  who  undertakes  the  Indian  service  should  enjoy 
youth  and  strength  ;  requisites  I  do  not  possess.  It  there 
fore  grieves  me  that  your  Excellency  should  offer  me  the 
only  command  to  which  I  am  entirely  unequal.  In  obe 
dience  to;  your  command  I  have  forwarded  your  letter  to 
General  Sullivan." 

^Washington's  letter  to  Sullivan  was  as  follows  : 

"HEADQUARTERS,  MIDDLE  BROOK,  MARCH  6,  1779. 

Dear  Sir :  Congress  having  determined  upon  an  expe 
dition,  of  an  extensive  nature,  against  the  hostile  tribes  of 
the  Indians  of  the  Six  Nations,  the  command  is  offered  to 
Major  General  Gates  as  senior  officer,  but  should  he  decline, 
it  is  my  wish  it  should  devolve  upon  you.  That  no  time 
may  be  lost  by  General  Gates'  non-acceptance,  I  have  put 
this  letter  under  cover  to  him,  and  have  desired  him  to  for 
ward  it  to  you,  should  that  be  his  determination.  Should 
it  therefore  be  sent  to  you,  I  must  request  you  to  set  out  as 
speedily  as  possible  after  the  receipt  of  it  to  Head  Quarters, 
as  the  season  is  already  far  advanced.  Upon  your  arrival 
the  whole  plan  of  the  expedition  shall  be  communicated  to 
you,  and  measures  concerted  for  carrying  it  into  execution. 

Nothing  will  contribute  more  to  our  success  in  the  quar 
ter  where  we  really  intend  to  strike  than  alarming  the  enemy 
in  a  contrary  one,  and  drawing  their  attention  that  way.  To 
do  this  you  may  drop  hints  of  an  expedition  to  Canada  by 
way  of  Coos.  This  will  be  more  readily  believed,  as  a  thing 
of  that  kind  was  really  once  in  aggitation,  and  some  maga 
zines  formed  in  consequence,  which  the  enemy  are  acquainted 
with.  You  may  also  speak  of  the  probability  of  a  French 
fleet  making  its  appearance  in  the  Spring,  in  the  River  St. 
Lawrence,  to  co-operate  with  us.  It  will  be  a  great  point 
gained,  if  we  can,  by  false  claims,  keep  the  force  ready  in 


Canada  from  affording  any  timely  assistance  to  the  Savages, 
Refugees  and  these  people  against  whom  the  blow  is  levelled. 
*****!  wish  you  to  keep  the  motive  of  your 
journey  to  Head  Quarters  a  secret,  because  if  it  is  known  that 
an  officer  of  your  rank  is  to  take  command  to  the  westward, 
it  will  be  immediately  concluded  that  the  object  must  be 
considerable.  I  am  with  great  Regard,  Dear  Sir, 
Your  Most  Obedient  Servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

General  Sullivan's  conduct  in  the  expedition  against  the 
Indians  was,  by  some,  characterized  as  vandal  and  unmili- 
tary.  Sullivan  bore  the  criticism  in  patience,  and  for  the 
most  part  in  silence ;  and  such  was  his  love  for  Washing 
ton  that  he  never  alluded  to  the  fact  that  he  was  actincr 

&> 

under  the  express   directions  of  the  Commander-in-Chief. 
These  were  his  instructions  :    "The  immediate  object  is  the 
Six  Nations  total  destruction  and  devastation  of  their  settle 
ments,  and  the  capture  of  as  many  persons  as  possible. "- 
(Ford's  Writings  of  Washington,  Volume  7,  356.) 

To  carry  out  Washington's  plan  Colonel  Brodhead,  with 
seven  hundred  men,  the  left  division  of  the  army,  was  sent 
into  western  Pennsylvania  ;  General  Clinton,  with  one  thou 
sand  men,  the  right  division  of  the  arrny,  was  ordered  to 
advance  from  the  Hudson  to  Tioga.  General  Sullivan  was 
ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Easton,  which  place  he  reached 
May  7,  1779,  and  there  prepare  his  command  for  their  march 
through  the  wilderness.  He  had  sent,  from  Easton,  April, 
1779,  a  German  regiment  of  two  hundred  to  three  hundred 
men  to  Wyoming,  under  Major  Powell,  following  a  few 
weeks  later  with  the  division  under  his  own  command. 

The  state  of  affairs  in  the  Valley  of  Wyoming  was  bet 
ter  than  it  had  been  any  time  since  the  battle  of  July  third, 
1778.  A  small  force  consisting  of  the  Wyoming  militia 
under  Capt.  John  Franklin,  the  Wyoming  Company  under 
Capt.  Simon  Spalding,  with  two  companies  of  Colonel  Hart 
ley's  regiment  (Eleventh  Pennsylvania),  all  under  the  com- 


mand  of  Col.  Zebulon  Butler,  had  wintered  at  Wyoming. 
Colonel  Butler,  being  reinforced  also  by  a  German  regiment 
of  about  three  hundred  men,  was  enabled,  not  only  to  defend 
his  position,  but  to  clear  the  open  portions  of  the  valley  of 
his  cruel  and  insolent  visitors ;  but  small  parties  of  Indians 
still  hovered  around  Wyoming  like  wolves  around  a  sheep- 
fold.  They  waylaid  the  passes  through  the  mountains  and 
occasionally  exhibited  extraordinary  instances  of  courage 
and  audacity. 

I  quote  from  our  venerated  historian,  the  Hon.  Charles 
Miner,  whom  I  remember  well  as  an  honored  guest  at  my 
father's  house,  where  he  was  almost  sure  to  come  in  June — 
often  with  his  blind,  though  most  attractive  daughter,  Miss 
Sarah,  bringing  a  bunch  of  delicate  pink  roses  to  my  mother, 
telling  her  he  called  the  rose  the  "Lady  Bennett,"  and  gal 
lantly  comparing  it  to  the  blush  of  her  cheek.  This  being  a 
neighborhood  dedication,  I  may  be  permitted  to  indulge  in 
a  few  personal  recollections.  In  Mr.  Miner's  history,  page 
263,  we  find  the  following,  not  only  graphic,  but  by  com 
paring  it  with  the  army  records,  very  truthful  description  of 
the  ambuscade  near  Laurel  Run,  and  we  have  taken  his 
account  for  the  inscription  on  the  memorial  stone,  because 
he  was  so  near  to  the  eye-witnesses,  and  their  immediate 
descendants,  and  therefore  his  statements  must  be  correct: 

"Major  Powell,  commanding  two  hundred  men  of  a  regi 
ment  which  had  been  much  reduced  by  losses  in  the  battle 
of  Germantown,  having  been  ordered  to  Wyoming,  arrived  at 
Bear  Creek,  about  ten  miles  from  the  fort,  on  the  night  of 
the  1 8th  of  April.  Deeming  themselves  out  of  danger  from 
a  surprise  by  the  Indians,  orders  were  given  that  officers  and 
men  should  dress  in  their  best  apparel,  their  arms  be  newly 
burnished,  and  everything  be  put  in  order  to  appear  respect 
ably  on  entering  the  Valley.  As  was  the  fashion  of  the  day, 
the  officers  wearing  ruffles,  were  also  powdered."  Can  you 
imagine  the  state  of  the  ruffles  and  powder  on  the  march  in 


this  great  wilderness,  through  which  the  soldiers  were  cut 
ting  their  way,  and  these  ruffled  officers  were  turning  aside 
to  hunt  the  deer  on  this  23d  of  April,  1779.  But  the  account 
runs  thus :  "As  was  the  fashion  of  the  day,  the  officers, 
wearing  ruffles,  were  also  powdered.  The  music,  partaking 
in  the  excitement  of  the  hour,  played  their  liveliest  strains 
as  the  party  advanced.  Deer  were  reported  to  have  been 
seen  by  the  vanguard,  when  Captain  Davis  and  Lieutenant 
Jones,  armed  with  rifles,  immediately  hastened  forward. 
Near  the  summit  of  the  second  mountain,  by  the  Laurel 
Run,  and  about  four  miles  from  the  fort,  a  fire  was  opened 
upon  them  by  the  Indians  in  ambush,  by  which  Captain 
Davis,  Lieutenant  Jones,  a  corporal  by  the  name  of  Butler, 
and  three  men  under  his  command,  fell.  Major  Powell,  not 
far  in  the  rear,  hastened  forward  at  a  moment  when  an 
Indian,  with  surprising  audacity,  had  seized  a  woman,  the 
wife  of  one  of  the  soldiers  who  had  fallen,  and  was  dragging 
her  from  the  path  into  the  thicket.  A  soldier  in  the  act  to 
fire,  was  stopped  by  Major  Powell,  but  the  woman  escaped. 
The  Major,  it  was  thought,  lost  the  self-possession  so  indis 
pensable  to  a  soldier,  and  his  command,  thrown  into  confu 
sion,  retreated  in  disorder.  Uncertain  as  to  the  power,  though 
too  fatally  assured  of  the  prowess  of  his  enemy,  Major  Powell 
undoubtedly  experienced  a  degree  of  fear,  which  the  force 
of  the  enemy  disclosed,  or  probably  present,  did  not  warrant, 
and  seems  scarcely  to  have  remembered  that  he  still  com 
manded  nearly  two  hundred  veteran  soldiers.  Dispatching 
his  surgeon,  who  volunteered  for  the  occasion,  and  John 
Halstead,  a  soldier  of  Captain  Spalding's  company,  who  had 
met  him,  and  acted  as  a  guide  to  Colonel  Butler,  the  Ger 
man  Battalion  was  immediately  called  to  arms,  and  marched 
to  the  Mountain  to  escort  Major  Powell  and  his  men  to  the 
Valley.  Major  Powell,  having  leave  to  resign,  soon  left  the 
army." 

Mr.  Miner  adds  in  a  foot  note  that  "the  bodies  of  the  two 


10 

officers,  hastily  buried,  were  exhumed  the  July  following, 
and  on  the  2Qth  inst.  re-interred  with  military  honors,  by 
the  brethren  of  General  Sullivan's  army,  and  the  regiments 
of  Colonels  Proctor  and  Hubley.  A  band  of  music,  the 
first  whose  soul-arousing  strains  were  ever  heard  in  Wyom 
ing,  added  interest  to  the  solemn  pomp  and  gloomy  splendor 
of  the  display.  A  rude  stone,  but  the  best  and  neatest  the 
condition  of  the  country  allowed  them  to  obtain,  was  erected 
by  the  Masons,  at  the  head  of  the  grave  in  the  Wilkes-Barre 
burying  ground,  with  a  suitable  inscription." 

Isaac  A.  Chapman,  in  his  history  of  Wyoming  (p.  130), 
gives  this  account  of  the  ambuscade  :  "  To  afford  the  re 
quisite  protection  in  case  of  attack,  a  company  of  troops, 
under  command  of  Major  Powell,  was  directed  to  march  by 
the  small  path  through  the  swamp,  and  form  a  garrison  in 
Wyoming  fort,  until  the  arrival  of  the  main  army.  These 
troops,  not  apprehensive  of  any  danger,  proceeded  in  an 
irregular  manner  along  the  small  path  which  admitted  the 
passage  of  single  files  only,  and  were  fired  upon,  on  the  2Oth 
of  April,  by  a  body  of  Indians  in  ambush,  while  crossing  the 
head  of  Laurel  Run,  near  the  summit  of  the  first  Mountain. 
In  this  attack,  Captain  Davis,  Lieutenant  Jones,  and  four 
men  were  killed,  and  the  remainder  of  the  troops  having 
retreated  a  short  distance,  and  formed  for  battle,  succeeded 
in  dispersing  the  Indians,  who  fled  after  a  few  scattering 
discharges,  when  the  troops  entered  the  Valley.  The  re 
mains  of  Captain  Davis  and  Lieutenant  Jones  were  removed 
to  the  burial  ground  in  Wilkes-Barre,  where  the  Brother 
hood  erected  a  rough  stone  monument,  with  a  suitable  in 
scription,  over  their  graves." 

William  L.  Stone,  in  his  history,  gives  a  short  account 
(p.  230) :  "  In  the  succeeding  month  of  April,  as  Major 
Powell  was  leading  a  detachment  of  troops  to  reinforce  the 
garrison  of  Wyoming,  while  threading  a  defile  so  narrow 
that  but  a  single  man  could  pass  at  a  time,  and  utterly  un- 


II 

conscious  that  a  subtle  enemy  was  lurking  about  his  path, 
he  was  fired  upon  from  an  Indian  ambuscade  in  Laurel  Run, 
near  the  crest  of  the  first  mountain,  and  six  of  his  men  killed, 
of  which  number  were  Captain  Davis  and  Lieutenant  Jones." 
Mr.  Stewart  Pearce  gives  us  about  the  same  account. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  some  of  the  journals  relating  to  this 
part  of  General  Sullivan's  great  march  through  our  old 
mountains.  We  have  gone  with  the  writers  even  to  the  Val 
ley,  as  their  descriptions  are  so  interesting. 

The  following  is  from  the  journal  of  Lieut.  Col.  Henry 
Dearborn,  commanding  the  Third  New  Hampshire  regi 
ment:  "June  21,  1879. — Enter' d  what  is  called  the  Great 
Swamp,  proceeded  20  miles  thro'  a  horrid,  rough,  gloomy 
country,  the  land  covered  with  pine,  spruce,  laurel  bushes 
and  hemlock.  We  eat  breakfast  at  a  streem  call'd  Tunk- 
hannak,  we  passed  another  call'd  Tobyhannah,  &  another 
the  Leahigh.  We  likewise  pass'd  what  is  call'd  the  Shades 
of  Death,*  a  very  gloomy  thick  part  of  the  Swamp.  22d. — 
We  march'd  but  5  miles  to  a  desolate  farm  [Bullock's  farm], 
7  miles  from  Wyoming.  23d. — We  march'd  to  the  Fort  at 
Wyoming,  7  miles,  where  we  found  several  reg'ts  incamp'd, 
which  are  part  of  our  army,  our  course  the  2  last  days 
has  been  N.  West.  The  whole  country  from  Easton  to 
Wyoming  is  very  poor  &  barren  &  I  think  Such  as  will 
never  be  inhabited  it  abounds  with  deer  &  Rattlesnakes." 

From  the  journal  of  Dr.  Ebenezer  Elmer,  Surgeon  in 
Second  New  Jersey  regiment.  The  journal  begins  June 
1 8th,  1779,  as  the  army  under  Gen.  Sullivan  leaves  Easton. 
These  items  are  the  only  mention  of  this  part  of  the  route : 
''21st. — Marched  at  Sunrise  &  about  6  o'clock  Came  to  the 


*  Gen.  John  L.  Clark,  in  his  annotations  of  Hardenberg's  Journal,  states  that 
the  name  "Shades  of  Death"  is  supposed  to  have  been  derived  from  the  suffer 
ings  of  those  who  escaped  from  the  Massacre  of  Wyoming,  but  this  is  evidently 
an  error,  as  the  name  was  attached  to  the  locality  and  appeared  on  the  maps 
long  before  1778. 


great  Swamp,  which  is  interspersed  &  barren  piney  Spots 
throughout,  very  Stony.  There  are  three  or  four  Brooks 
which  run  thro'  it,  being  branches  of  the  Leehigh. —  In 
some  places  the  timber  is  very  tall  &  thick,  mostly  white 
pine  &  Hemlock,  with  some  Birch  Maple  &  Locust  trees, 
many  of  the  white  pines  are  150  foot  clear  of  any  limbs. 
The  last  vale  of  this  swamp  is  called  the  Shadow 
of  Death.  Having  come  so  great  a  distance,  in  such  bad 
roads,  the  waggons  did  not  get  in  till  late  in  the  evening 
&  several  broke,  some  left  behind,  many  horses  tired,  some 
died  &  others  lost — lay  all  night  in  a  bushy  spot  among 
the  pine  knots,  by  ye  edge  of  the  Swamp  called  the  Fatigue 
Camp." 

U23rd. — About  12  o'clock  we  came  to  our  encamping 
ground  on  ye  banks  of  the  Susquehannah  at  Wyoming,  65 
miles  from  Easton.  The  place  does  by  no  means  answer 
my  Expectation,  yet  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  points 
&  in  some  places  a  depth  of  better  than  a  mile  is  exceeding 
good  bottom,  yielding  excellent  grain  or  grass  &  having  such 
a  beautiful  river  running  thro  it  navigable  for  boats  makes 
it  much  more  agreeable." 

u  25th. — Very  warm  in  ye  afternoon,  a  Smart  shower  of 
rain.  Five  miles  from  this  place  on  the  road  we  came, 
Capt.  Davis  &  Lieut.  Jones  of  this  state  were  murdered  by 
the  Savages,  the  23d  of  April  last  &  their  scalpts  taken  off, 
with  five  men  who  were  out  with  them  a  hunting.  A  mon 
ument  is  erected  on  the  Spot  to  commemorate  the  bloody 
tragedy,  &  the  blood  of  Lieut.  Jones  Exhibited  on  a  board 
crying  for  vengeance.  What  renders  the  action  peculiarly 
inhuman  was  that  the  Scalps  were  all  taken  off  by  a  Squaw, 
consort  to  a  Sachem  &  that  of,  some  while  they  were  alive : 
enough  methinks  any  of  the  sex  possessed  with  natural 
Sensibility  shudder  at  the  thought,  and  even  ye  hardy  made 
to  reprobate  it  with  horror." 


13 

Col.  Adam  Hubley,  in  his  Journal  of  the  Sullivan  Expe 
dition,  iith  Penn'a,  writes  under  date  of  August  18,  1779: 

"  This  day,  by  particular  request  of  several  gentlemen,  a 
discourse  was  delivered  in  the  Masonic  form,  by  Dr.  Rogers, 
on  the  death  of  Cap.  Davis,  of  the  iith  Penn'a,  and  Lieut. 
Jones  of  the  Delaware  regiments,  who  were,  on  the  23d  of 
April  last,  most  cruelly  and  inhumanly  massacred  and 
scalped  by  the  savages,  emissaries  employed  by  the  British 
king,  as  they  were  marching  with  a  detachment  for  the 
relief  of  the  garrison  at  Wyoming.  Those  gentlemen  were 
both  members  of  that  honourable  and  ancient  Society  of 
Freemen.  A  number  of  brethren  attended  on  this  occasion 
in  proper  form,  and  the  whole  was  conducted  with  propriety 
and  harmony.  Text  preached  on  this  solemn  occasion  was 
the  first  clause  in  the  7th  verse  of  the  7th  chapter  of  Job, 
'Remember  my  life  is  but  wind.'  " 

From  a  journal  of  the  march  of  General  Poor's  brigade, 
from  "  Soldier's  fortune,"  on  the  Western  Expedition,  May 
1 7th,  1779,  by  Daniel  Livermore,  Captain  in  the  Third  New 
Hampshire  regiment,  we  have  the  following  : 

"Wednesday,  June  23rd. — This  morning  the  troops  march 
at  seven  o'clock,  and  pass  the  Bear  Swamp  and  a  place 
called  the  Shades  of  Death,  by  its  being  a  dark,  lonesome 
place.  The  sun  is  scarcely  to  be  seen  for  the  trees  and 
bushes.  Not  far  from  this  place  is  where  Capt.  Davis  and 
Lieut.  Jones,  from  Pennsylvania,  were  inhumanly  murdered 
April  1 8th,  1779,  by  the  savages.  During  the  whole  of  our 
march  from  Easton,  we  travelled  through  the  most  barren 
part  of  the  country  I  ever  saw,  for  so  far  together.  *  *  * 
At  about  two  P.  M.  we  arrived  at  Wyoming.  Here  is  a 
fertile  country.  *  *  *  There  are  250  Widows  in  the 
place,  whose  Husbands  were  slain  in  the  battle."  *  *  * 

From  the  journal  of  Lieut.  John  Jenkins,  Lieutenant  in 
Captain  Spalding's  company : 

"April  23rd. — This  day  Major  Powell,  with  a  party  of  men 


coming  in,  were  waylaid  by  the  Indians  near  Laurel  Run. 
Capt.  Davis,  Lieut.  Jones  and  three  men  were  killed  and  two 
others  missing.  About  the  same  time  the  Indians  drove  off 
six  cows  from  Shawnee."  Lieutenant  Jenkins  served  with 
General  Sullivan  as  guide  to  the  army,  and  received  thanks 
of  the  General  in  general  orders  for  services  rendered.  *  * 
The  original  manuscript  was  in  the  hands  of  his  grandson, 
Hon.  Steuben  Jenkins,  Wyoming,  Pa." 

From  the  journal  of  Maj.  John  Norris,  Captain  in  Third 
New  Hampshire  regiment : 

"  This  day's  march  was  as  severe  as  it  was  unnecessary 
through  a  Wilderness,  where  there  was  only  an  Indian  path, 
till  the  troops  cut  a  road,  this  spring,  for  the  passage  of  Sul 
livan's  army.  *  *  *  After  we  crossed  the  creek  we  came 
to  the  Lehi,  the  west  branch  of  the  Delaware,  &  having 
passed  this  we  enter  a  gloomy  grove  of  Cypress,  Hemlock, 
Pine,  Spruce  &  call'd  the  Shades  of  Death,  the  growth  of 
Timber  in  this  Swamp  is  amazing.  *  *  *  Our  next 
place  of  halting  is  Wyoming,  distant  seven  miles,  about  four 
miles  from  this  Town  we  saw  two  Monuments,  set  up  by  the 
wayside  in  memory  of  Capt.  Davis  &  Lieut.  Jones  .of  nth 
Pennsylvania  Regt.  with  the  following  inscription. — The 
place  where  Capt.  Davis  was  murdered  by  the  Savages 
April  23rd,  1779,  and  the  blood  of  Lieut.  Jones." 

In  an  historical  address  by  Rev.  David  Craft,  Wyalusing, 
Bradford  county,  Pa.,  being  a  full  and  complete  history  of 
the  expedition  against  the  Six  Nations  in  1779,  commanded 
by  Maj.  Gen.  John  Sullivan,  we  find  these  few  lines  relative 
to  our  subject :  "  Early  in  the  Spring,  Major  Powell,  with  a 
detachment  of  about  200  men  of  the  Eleventh  Pennsylvania, 
reinforced  the  garrison,  and  were  joined  by  the  remainder  of 
the  regiment  soon  after.  The  Indians  ambuscaded  this  de 
tachment  at  Laurel  Run,  near  Wyoming,  April  24th,  and 
killed  Capt.  Joseph  Davis,  Lieutenant  Jones,  and  two  men." 


15 

Wyoming  was  then  in  Northampton  county,  whose  capital 
was  Easton.  (p.  343.) 

The  Rev.  William  Rogers,  D.  D.,  Chaplain  in  Hand's 
brigade,  also  gives  us  such  a  glowing  account,  that  we  have 
copied  descriptions  of  three  days  march  from  his  journal : 

"Monday,  June  2 1 st,  1 779. — This  day  we  marched  through 
the  Great  Swamp  and  Bear  Swamp.  The  Great  Swamp, 
which  is  eleven  or  twelve  miles  through,  contains  what  is 
called  in  our  maps  the  '  Shades  of  Death,'  by  reason  of  its 
darkness ;  both  swamps  contain  trees  of  amazing  height, 
viz  :  hemlock,  birch,  pine,  sugar  maple,  ash,  locust,  etc.  The 
roads  in  some  places  are  tolerable,  but  in  other  places 
exceedingly  bad,  by  reason  of  which  three  of  our  wagons 
and  the  carriages  of  two  field  pieces  were  broken  down. 
This  day  we  proceeded  twenty  miles,  and  encamped  late  in 
the  evening  at  a  spot  which  the  commander  named  '  Camp 
Fatigue.'  The  troops  were  tired  and  hungry.  The  road 
through  the  swamps  is  entirely  new,  being  fitted  for  the 
passage  of  our  wagons  by  Colonels  Courtlandt  and  Spencer 
at  the  instance  of  the  commander-in-chief;  the  way  leading 
to  Wyoming  being  only  a  blind,  narrow  path.  The  new 
road  does  its  projectors  great  credit,  &  must,  in  a  future 
day,  be  of  essential  service  to  the  inhabitants  of  Wyoming 
and  Easton.  In  the  Great  Swamp  is  Locust  Hill,  where  we 
discovered  evident  marks  of  a  destroyed  Indian  village. 
Tobyhanna  and  Middle  creek  empty  into  the  Tunkhannak  ; 
the  Tunkhannak  empties  into  the  head  branch  of  the  Lehigh, 
which  at  Easton  empties  into  the  Delaware.  The  Moosic 
mountain,  through  a  gap  of  which  we  passed  in  the  Great 
Swamp,  is  the  dividing  ridge  which  separates  the  Delaware 
from  the  Susquehanna.  The  army  continued  at  Fatigue 
Camp  until  2  o'clock  p.  M,,  on  account  of  their  great  march 
the  preceding  day,  many  of  the  wagons  and  rear  guard  not 
getting  in  until  midnight. 

"Wednesday,  June  23rd. — The  troops  prepared  themselves 


i6 

for  Wyoming,  from  which  we  were  now  distant  only  7 
miles.  This  day  we  marched  with  regularity,  and  at  a  dis 
tance  of  three  miles  came  to  the  place  where  Captain  Davis 
and  Lieutenant  Jones,  with  a  corporal  &  four  privates, 
were  scalped,  tomahawked  and  speared  by  the  savages,  fif 
teen  or  twenty  in  number ;  two  boards  are  fixed  at  the  spot 
where  Davis  and  Jones  fell,  with  their  names  on  each,  Jones's 
being  besmeared  with  his  own  blood.  In  passing  this  melan 
choly  vale,  an  universal  gloom  appeared  on  the  countenances 
of  both  officers  &  men  without  distinction,  and  from  the  eyes 
of  many,  as  by  a  sudden  impulse,  dropt  the  sympathizing  tear. 
Colonel  Proctor,  out  of  respect  to  the  deceased,  ordered  the 
music  to  play  the  tune  of  Roslin  Castle,  the  soft  and  moving 
notes  of  which,  together  with  what  so  forcibly  struck  the 
eye,  tended  greatly  to  fill  our  breasts  with  pity,  and  to  renew 
our  grief  for  our  worthy  departed  friends  &  brethren.  The 
words  of  the  celebrated  Young  occurred  on  this  occasion 
to  my  mind : 

"  '  Life's  little  stage  is  a  small  eminence, 

Inch  high  above  the  grave,  that  home  of  man 
Where  dwells  the  multitude.' 

Getting  within  two  miles  of  Wyoming,  we  had,  from  a 
fine  eminence,  an  excellent  view  of  the  settlement.  *  * 
It  lies  in  a  beautiful  valley,  surrounded  by  very  high  ground  ; 
the  people  inhabit  up  and  down  the  banks  of  the  river  & 
very  little  back.  There  were  in  this  settlement,  last  sum 
mer,  a  court  house,  a  jail,  &  many  dwelling  houses,  all  of 
which,  excepting  a  few  scattered  ones,  were  burnt  by  the 
savages  after  the  battle  of  July  3rd,  1778,  which  took  place 
near  Forty  Fort.  At  present,  there  are  a  few  log  houses, 
newly  built,  a  fort,  one  or  two  stockaded  redoubts,  &  a 
row  of  barracks ;  the  settlement  consists  of  six  or  more 
small  townships.  At  the  battle  before  spoken  of,  about  two 
hundred  &  twenty  men  were  massacred  within  the  space 
of  an  hour  &  a  half,  more  than  a  hundred  of  whom  were 


married  men ;  their  widows  afterward  had  all  their  property 
taken  from  them,  &  several  of  them  with  their  children 
were  made  prisoners.  It  is  said  Queen  Esther  of  the  Six 
Nations,  who  was  with  the  enemy,  scalped  &  tomahawked 
with  her  own  hands,  in  cold  blood,  eight  or  ten  persons. 
The  Indian  women  in  general  were  guilty  of  the  greatest 
barbarities.  Since  this  dreadful  stroke,  they  have  visited 
the  settlement  several  times,  each  time  killing,  or  rather  tor 
turing  to  death,  more  or  less.  Many  of  their  bones  continue 
yet  unburied  where  the  main  action  happened.  *  *  * 

"Thursday,  June  24th. — Was  introduced  to  Col.  Zebulon 
Butler,  the  gentleman  of  whom  much  has  been  said  on  ac 
count  of  his  persevering  conduct  in  opposing  the  savages. 
*  *  *  Being  St.  John's  day,  a  number  of  Free  Masons 
met  at  Colonel  Proctor's  marquee ;  at  his  request  (though 
not  one  of  the  fraternity  myself)  read  for  them  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Smith's  excellent  sermon  on  Masonry." 

Lieut.  John  L.  Hardenburgh,  First  Lieutenant  in  Second 
New  York  Continental  regiment,  was  one  of  the  surveyors 
of  the  3rd  "  Military  Tract,"  the  name  of  the  road  over  our 
mountains,  and  gives  us  the  Rev.  William  Rogers'  account 
of  the  ambuscade  at  Laurel  Run.  His  field  books,  neatly 
kept  and  carefully  preserved,  are  now  in  the  possession  of 
the  Cayuga  County  Historical  Society. 

In  an  historical  address  delivered  by  Chauncey  N.  Ship- 
man  at  the  "  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  battle  of  New- 
town,"  held  in  1879,  we  have  taken  this  description  of  the 
re-interment  of  the  bodies  of  the  two  officers  :  "  Before  the 
Army  under  General  Sullivan  taking  up  their  line  of  march, 
it  was  resolved  to  re-inter  the  bodies  of  Captain  Davis  and 
Lieutenant  Jones  in  the  public  burial  grounds,  near  the  old 
fort,  with  appropriate  Masonic  and  military  ceremonies. 
Accompanied  by  the  regimental  band,  brethren  of  Colonel 
Porter's  lodge  proceeded  to  the  mountain  brow,  with  mat 
tock  and  spade,  re-opened  the  graves  of  their  fallen  brothers, 


i8 

and  with  untold  ceremonies,  raised  them  from  corruption 
there,  and  then  with  step  to  music,  that  melted  their  hearts 
in  all  the  tenderness  of  woe,  took  their  downward  march  to 
the  valley.  Here  they  were  received  by  the  Masonic  Lodge 
and  the  regiments  of  Colonels  Proctor  and  Hubley,  and  by 
them  were  again  consigned  to  the  earth  with  military  honors, 
and  the  peculiar  rites  and  ceremonies  of  Masonry.  A  rude 
stone,  the  best  the  valley  then  afforded,  was  afterwards 
placed  over  their  remains,  bearing  this  inscription  :  "In  mem 
ory  of  Capt.  Joseph  Davis  of  the  nth  Pennsylvania;  also 
of  Lieutenant  William  Jones,  who  were  murdered  by  the 
savages,  on  their  march  to  the  relief  of  the  distressed  inhab 
itants  of  Wyoming  on  the  23rd  of  April,  1779.  Erected  by 
a  friend."  A  few  days  after  the  scene  just  narrated,  the 
army  halted  at  Tioga,  and  on  August  i8th  a  funeral  sermon 
was  preached  by  Dr.  Rogers,  one  of  the  chaplains  of  the 
army,  from  Job  7  :  7,  "Remember  that  my  life  is  wind." 

Captain  Davis  and  Lieutenant  Jones  were  known  to  have 
been  members  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  and  it  is  to  that  fra 
ternity  that  we  owe  the  fact  of  their  honorable  and  Christian 
burial.  One  month  after  their  massacre,  May  18,  1779,  Col. 
Thomas  Proctor,  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania 
Artillery,  secured  from  the  Provincial  Grand  Lodge  of 
Pennsylvania  a  warrant  "to  form  and  hold  a  travelling  mili 
tary  Lodge"  in  his  regiment.  Still  later,  June  23,  General 
Sullivan  reached  Wyoming  with  Proctor's  regiment,  and  as 
they  passed  the  spot  where  Colonel  Powell's  men  were 
killed,  the  regimental  band  played  "  Roslin's  Castle"  in 
honor  of  their  slain  brothers.  Mr.  Harvey,  in  his  "History 
of  Lodge  No.  61,  F.  and  A.  M.,"  page  23,  gives  this  very 
interesting  account  of  the  re-interment  of  the  slain  : 

"  Before  leaving  the  valley  it  was  resolved  to  bring  the 
remains  of  Captain  Davis  and  Lieutenant  Jones  from  their 
rude  graves  on  the  mountain  and  re-inter  them  in  Wilkes- 
Barre,  with  appropriate  military  and  Masonic  ceremonies. 


'9 

On  the  28th  of  July,  Brethren  of  Colonel  Proctor's  Lodge, 
accompanied  by  the  Regimental  Band,  proceeded  to  the 
mountain  brow,  where  the  graves  of  the  slain  were  opened, 
their  bodies  raised  thence  with  untold  ceremonies  and  con 
veyed  down  into  the  Valley.  Here  they  were  received  by 
the  Military  Lodge  and  the  regiments  of  Colonel  Proctor 
and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Adam  H.  Hubley,  and  by  them  were 
buried  with  military  honors  and  the  peculiar  rites  of  Masonry 
in  the  public  burying  ground  near  the  Wilkes-Barre  Fort." 
"The  following  account  of  this  the  first  Masonic  funeral 
held  in  the  Wyoming  Valley  was  prepared  at  the  time  by  a 
Brother  and  forwarded  to  John  Carter,  Esq.,  of  Providence, 
R.  I.,  who  published  it  on  Saturday,  Sept.  18,  1779,  in  his 
Providence  Gazette  and  County  Journal : 

"  'Wyoming,  July  31,  1/79. — On  Thursday  last,  the  28th, 
agreeable  to  previous  determination,  the  bodies  of  our 
Brethren,  Captain  Joseph  Davis  and  Lieutenant  William 
Jones,  who  were  massacred  by  the  savages  near  this  post 
on  the  23d  of  April  last,  were  re-interred.  This  mark  of  re 
spect  we  thought  necessary  for  the  following  reasons :  it 
being  expressive  of  our  esteem,  and  their  not  being  buried 
in  the  proper  graveyard.  The  form  of  procession  being  fixed 
on  by  Lodge  No.  19  was  as  follows : 

24  musketeers  with  reversed  arms. 
2  Tylers  bearing  their  swords. 

A  band  of  music. 

2  Deacons  with  wands. 

2  Brethren  bearing  Orders. 

The  Holy  Bible  and  Book  of  Constitutions, 

supported  by  two  Brethren. 

The  Reverend  Brethren. 

The  Worshipful  Master,  with  the  Hon.  Maj.  Gen'l  Sullivan. 

Senior  and  Junior  Wardens  bearing  their  Columns. 

The  Treasurer  and  Secretary. 

Past  Master. 

The  Brethren,  two  and  two. 

Brothers  of  the  Army,  two  and  two. 

2  corps  of  drums,  muffled,  and  fifes  playing  a  solemn  dirge. 


20 

'The  Brethren  were  neatly  clothed,  with  jewels,  etc.,  and 
were  in  number  odds  of  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Just  as  we 
arrived  at  the  grave,  an  exceeding  heavy  gust  of  rain  com 
ing  up  prevented  the  delivery  of  a  discourse  which  had  been 
prepared  for  the  occasion  by  Brother  Rogers.  A  short 
prayer  being  by  him  offered  up,  we  then  committed  their 
bodies  in  Masonic  form  to  the  dust,  afterwards  three  volleys 
of  small  arms  were  discharged.  The  Brotherhood  were 
attended  by  the  Pennsylvania  Infantry,  commanded  by  Colo 
nel  Hubley,  as  likewise  by  a  great  concourse  of  people,  both 
inhabitants  and  soldiery.  The  melancholy  scene  was  closed 
with  that  decorum  usual  among  the  Brethren,  and  the  satis 
faction  of  all  the  bystanders.  A  stone  being  prepared  by 
our  Brethren,  Forest  and  Story,  with  a  suitable  inscription, 
was  fixed  at  the  head  of  their  grave.'  ' 

I  remember  seeing  in  the  old  graveyard  this  stone,  much 
defaced  and  sunken.  Mr.  George  M.  Hollenback,  whose 
grandmother,  Eleanor  (Jones)  Hollenback,  is  said  to  have 
been  a  relative  of  Lieutenant  William  Jones,  put  the  old 
stone  in  the  grave  at  Hollenback  Cemetery  when  the  slain 
were  re-interred  there  in  1867,  and  erected  over  the  grave  a 
new  stone  with  the  same  inscription,  adding  the  words, 
"  Erected  by  a  friend." 

When  the  remains  of  Captain  Davis  and  Lieutenant  Jones 
were  removed  from  the  old  Wilkes-Barre  burying  ground 
to  Hollenback  Cemetery,  on  June  24th,  1867,  Sidney  Hay- 
den,  Esq.,  cousin  of  our  friend,  Rev.  Horace  Edwin  Hay- 
den,  delivered  the  address  before  "Masonic  Lodge  No.  61." 
His  account  of  the  ambuscade  was  taken  from  Mr.  Miner's 
history,  which  you  have  seen  is  corroborated  by  the  Army 
Records. 

The  following  account  of  the  third  interment  is  quoted 
from  the  Wilkes-Barre  Record,  September  14,  1896  : 

"The  mouldering  bones  lay  undisturbed  until  1867,  when 
the  growing  borough  of  Wilkes-Barre  required  the  aban- 


21 

donment  of  the  burying  ground.  Again  the  bones  were 
exhumed  and  conveyed  to  Hollenback  Cemetery,  where 
they  lie  in  a  lot  near  the  main  entrance.  The  ceremonies 
were  again  under  Masonic  auspices,  and  the  historical  ad 
dress  was  made  by  Sidney  Hayden,  Esq.,  of  Athens,  Pa. 

The  committee  from  Lodge  61  consisted  of  E.  L.  Dana, 
S.  D.  Lewis,  E.  B.  Harvey,  H.  B.  Wright,  Dr.  Urquhart,  A. 
M.  Bailey,  W.  L.  Stewart.  The  procession  to  Hollenback 
Cemetery  was  in  the  following  order  : 

Marshal,  C.  C.  Plotz. 

Veteran  Zouaves. 

Veterans  of  the  Rebellion. 

Veterans  of  the  Mexican  War. 

Veterans  of  1812. 

Scranton  Band. 

Masonic   body   consisting   of  these  lodges :  Shickshinny  ; 
Schiller  of  Scranton;  Hyde  Park;  Plymonth  ;  Peter  Wil 
liamson   Lodge  of  Scranton  ;  Waverly ;  Union  of 
Scranton;  Carbondale  ;  Lodge  61  of  Wilkes- 
Barre.     These  comprised  over 
five  hundred  Masons. 
Clergymen. 

Hearse. 

Pall  bearers :  Cols.  H.  M.  Hoyt,  S.  H.  Sturdevant,  Wil 
liam  Brisbane,  Lieut.  Cols.  E.  S.  Osborne,  T.  C.  Harkness, 
G.  N.  Reichard,  C.  M.  Conyngham,  Oliver  Parsons,  George 
Smith.  On  the  way  to  the  cemetery  the  air  'Roslin  Castle' 
was  again  played,  as  it  had  been  sixty-eight  years  before." 

The  journals  all  state  that,  between  Laurel  Run  and  the 
crest  of  the  first  mountain,  the  writers  saw  where  Cap 
tain  Davis  and  Lieutenant  Jones  had  been  killed,  and  were 
buried.  The  dates  differ  a  few  days  as  to  when  the  incident 
occurred — also  the  number  slain — but  all  agree  that  about 


22 

here  the  ambuscade  with  its  horrors  took  place.     Tradition 
has  always  called  this  spring  "  Indian  Spring." 

Let  me  add  here  a  word  for  the  old  Wilkes-Barre  and  Eas- 
ton  Turnpike,  that  was  for  years  to  many  of  us  our  highway 
into  the  world  beyond  our  mountains.  Our  ancestors  built  it 
with  much  personal  care  and  expense,  working  out  some  of 
their  taxes,  with  their  men  and  teams,  every  year  on  the 
old  road  It  was  as  great  an  achievement  to  them  as  our 
railways  are  to  our  generation.  My  father,  Judge  Ziba  Ben 
nett,  was  its  last  president,  and  wound  up  the  affairs  of  the 
turnpike  as  a  toll  road.  My  grandfather,  Judge  Joseph 
Slocum,  who  was  for  many  years  president  of  the  old  turn 
pike,  said  in  his  last  days  :  "They  are  building  a  plank  road 
to  Slocum  Hollow  to  get  to  a  railroad,  and  they  say  a  man 
can  go  from  Wilkes-Barre  to  New  York  in  a  day.  It  is 
almost  beyond  my  belief."  Then  he  added,  sadly,  "I  wonder 
what  will  become  of  the  old  turnpike.  There  is  no  more 
use  for  the  old  man  and  the  old  road."  I  have  thought  if 
he  could  return  to  earth,  and  ride  with  us  over  the  fine  shale 
roads  built  by  our  neighbors,  General  Oliver  and  Mr.  Lewis, 
he  would  be  more  surprised  and  pleased  than  he  would  be 
at  the  railroads,  where  trains  of  loaded  cars  with  their  iron 
horses  are  daily  mounting  the  steep  grade.  When  a  child 
I  took  my  first  journey  in  the  stage  coach  to  Philadelphia, 
and  I  remember  well  the  strangeness  of  leaving  home  in  the 
night.  The  coach  left  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  I  remember  how  tall  and  thick  the  trees  were 
in  the  vale  called  the  "  Shades  of  Death,"  and  how  fright 
ened  I  grew  at  the  darkness,  and  how  pleasant  it  was  to 
ride  out  of  the  gloom  into  the  sunlight,  and  after  a  long 
drive  of  four  hours  in  the  early  morning,  to  find  breakfast 
at  Terwilleger's,  now  Tucker's. 

Isaac  A.  Chapman,  in  his  History  of  Wyoming,  says  : 
"After  the  battle  of  July  3rd,  many  of  the  inhabitants  were 
driven  from  the  valley,  and  compelled  to  proceed  on  foot 


THE 

UNIVSRSIT 

_  OF 

23 

sixty  miles  through  the  great  swamp,  almost  without  food 
or  clothing.  A  number  perished  on  the  journey,  principally 
women  and  children  ;  some  died  of  their  wounds,  others 
wandered  from  the  path  in  search  of  food  and  were  lost,  and 
those  who  survived  called  the  wilderness  through  which 
they  passed  the  '  Shades  of  Death,'  an  appellation  which  it 
has  since  retained."  Only  the  name  of  "Shades  Creek"  and 
a  few  weak  scions  of  the  mighty  trees  are  left  to  tell  where 
these  wonders  grew  which  astonished  the  soldiers  when 
they  cut  their  way  through  the  Great  Swamp  more  that  a 
hundred  and  twenty  years  ago. 

We  have  one  more  proof  to  bring.  Tradition  says  the 
old  stage  drivers  would  tell  the  youngsters  seated  beside 
them  on  the  coach  box,  as  they  would  be  passing  the  old 
spring  at  dusk,  "You  know,  folks  say  they  have  seen  ghosts 
here,  for  the  bones  of  some  Revolutionary  soldiers  are 
buried  near  here,"  and  as  the  listener  would  shudder,  the 
old  driver  would  whip  up  his  horses,  and  soon  give  his  com 
panion  a  sedative  to  his  fears,  as  on  the  crest  of  the  Wilkes- 
Barre  mountain  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  lights  gleaming 
down  in  the  valley.  With  this  last,  though  not  best  proof, 
we  ask  if  you  do  not  think  this  spot,  near  the  old  spring, 
is  not  a  fitting  place  to  erect  this  memorial  ?  Then,  again, 
what  a  fine  place  for  an  Indian  ambuscade  the  great  rocks 
in  the  rear  of  Mr.  Parrish's  home,  "Rockwood,"  must  have 
been. 

Four  months  after  the  battle  of  Wyoming,  on  the  2d  of 
November,  1778,  Frances  Slocum,  a  little  girl  of  five  years, 
was  stolen  by  the  Indians,  never  to  be  seen  again  by  her 
mother,  and  not  by  her  brothers  and  sisters  until  when  she 
was  a  woman  64  years  of  age.  About  forty  days  after  her 
abduction,  Isaac  Tripp,  her  grandfather,  and  Jonathan  Slo 
cum,  her  father,  were  speared,  tomahawked  and  scalped  by 
the  savages.  They  were  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
and  had  been  unmolested  by  the  Indians  until  Mr.  Slocum's 


24 

eldest  son,  Giles,  a  boy  of  seventeen  years,  had  joined  the 
band  of  patriots  on  the  memorable  3d  of  July ;  then  the 
family  seem  to  have  been  a  shining  mark  for  Indian  ven 
geance.  These  being  our  ancestors,  is  it  not  a  duty  for  us 
to  erect  this  Memorial  Stone  to  those  who  helped  to  make 
our  beautiful  valley  a  safe  home  for  its  long  suffering  inhab 
itants  ? 

Neighbors  and  friends,  let  us  make  this  spot  sacred  to 
the  immortal  memory  of  these  heroes,  who  were  murdered 
while  marching  to  deliver  our  ancestors  from  the  savage  foe, 
and  who  have  fallen  here  in  defense  of  American  Liberty. 

The  Rev.  Horace  Edwin  Hayden,  Corresponding  Secre 
tary  of  the  Wyoming  Historical  and  Geological  Society, 
and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Sons  of  the  Revolution,  received  the  care  of  the  monument 
for  the  Wyoming  members  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution, 
and  in  his  remarks  stated  his  pleasure  at  being  able  also,  as 
a  member  of  the  Fraternity,  to  represent  the  Masonic  Body 
whose  brotherly  love  first  honored  the  two  officers,  whose 
names  are  inscribed  on  the  monument,  by  a  military  and 
Masonic  burial. 

Mrs.  Katherine  Searle  McCartney,  Regent  of  the  Wyo 
ming  Valley  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  accepted  the  care  of  the  monument  for  that  So 
ciety,  remarking,  among  other  things,  that  this  is  the  first 
instance  in  this  section  of  a  woman  erecting  a  monument  to 
the  patriot  dead. 


A  BRIEF  SKETCH 


CAPTAIN  JOSEPH  DAVIS  AND  LIEUTENANT  WILLIAM  JONES 

OF   THE   PENNSYLVANIA    LINE, 

WHO  WERE  SLAIN  BY  THE  INDIANS  AT  LAUREL  RUN,  PA., 
APRIL  23,  1779. 

READ    BEFORE   THE   WYOMING   HISTORICAL   AND   GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY, 
MAY   21,  1897, 

BY 

REV.  HORACE  EDWIN  HAYDEN,  M.  A., 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY  OF  THE 
WYOMING   HISTORICAL   AND   GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY. 


It  will  be  remembered  by  the  members  of  the  Wyoming 
Historical  and  Geological  Society  that  in  September,  1896,  a 
monument  was  erected  by  the  patriotic  zeal  of  the  family  of 
Mrs.  John  C.  Phelps,  at  Laurel  Run,  to  commemorate  the 
soldiers  of  the  advance  guard  of  General  Sullivan's  army, 
who  were  slain  by  the  Indians  April  23,  1779.  To  the  dedi 
cation  of  this  monument  the  Historical  Society  was  officially 
invited.  A  very  interesting  paper,  prepared  by  Mrs.  John 
C.  Phelps,  giving  a  full  account  of  the  massacre,  was  read. 

At  that  time  nothing  more  was  known  of  the  personnel 
of  the  slain  than  has  been  recorded  by  Chapman,  Miner,  and 
others,  namely,  that  Captain  Davis  of  the  Eleventh  Penn 
sylvania  regiment,  Lieutenant  Jones  of  the  Delaware  troops, 
a  Corporal  Butler,  and  two  or  three  private  soldiers  were 
slain.  While  preparing  the  MS.  of  Mrs.  Phelps  for  publi 
cation  by  this  society,  I  was  led  to  make  a  most  careful  ex 
amination  of  the  official  and  private  records  of  the  Eleventh 
Pennsylvania  regiment  in  the  hope  of  finding  something 
more  about  these  gallant  men  who  lost  their  life  in  the 
defense  of  this  valley  and  its  people.  It  seems  appropriate 
that  the  results  of  this  search  should  be  given  to  this  Society, 
not  only  on  account  of  its  local  interest,  but  also  because  it 
is  the  intention  of  the  Phelps  family  to  convey  to  this  Society, 
in  perpetuity,  the  ground  on  which  the  monument  stands, 
with  sufficient  funds  in  trust  for  the  future  preservation  of 
the  monument  so  very  wisely  erected  thereon. 

In  giving  the  history  of  these  slain  patriots  it  is  necessary 
to  give  also  a  brief  history  of  the  command  to  which  they 
belonged,  for  the  presence  of  an  officer  of  the  Delaware 
troops,  when  no  separate  command  from  that  State  is  found 
in  the  roster  of  Sullivan's  army,  must  be  explained.  The 


28 

advance  guard  of  two  hundred  men  sent  forward  by  Sulli 
van  in  April,  1779,  was  a  detachment  of  the  Eleventh  Penn 
sylvania,  known  as  the  New  Eleventh.  It  was  under  the 
command  of  Maj.  Joseph  Prow  ell,  whose  identity  has  been 
lost  by  reason  of  a  typographical  error  which  gives  his  name 
in  all  the  histories  of  Wyoming  as  "Powell'' 

In  order  to  make  this  second  paper  complete  it  is  thought 
advisable  to  repeat  Hon.  Charles  Miner's  statement  that: 

"Major  Powell,  commanding  two  hundred  men  of  a  regi 
ment  which  had  been  much  reduced  by  losses  in  the  battle 
of  Germantown,  having  been  ordered  to  Wyoming,  arrived 
at  Bear  Creek,  about  ten  miles  from  the  fort  at  Wilkes-Barre, 
on  the  night  of  the  igth  of  April ;  deeming  themselves  out 
of  danger  from  a  surprise  by  the  Indians,  orders  were  given 
that  officers  and  men  should  dress  in  their  best  apparel, 
their  arms  be  newly  burnished,  and  everything  be  put  in  order 
to  appear  respectably  on  entering  the  valley.  As  was  the 
fashion  of  the  day,  the  officers  wearing  ruffles,  were  also 
powdered.  The  music  partaking  in  the  excitement  of  the 
hour,  played  their  liveliest  strains  as  the  party  advanced. 
Deer  was  reported  to  have  been  seen  by  the  vanguard,  when 
Captain  Davis  and  Lieutenant  Jones,  armed  with  rifles,  im 
mediately  hastened  forward.  Near  the  summit  of  the  second 
mountain,  by  the  Laurel  Run,  and  about  four  miles  from 
the  fort,  a  fire  was  opened  upon  them  by  the  Indians  in  am 
bush,  by  which  Captain  Davis,  Lieutenant  Jones,  a  corporal 
by  the  name  of  Butler,  and  three  men  under  his  command, 
fell.  Major  Powell,  not  far  in  the  rear,  hastened  forward 
at  a  moment  when  an  Indian,  with  surprising  audacity,  had 
seized  a  woman,  the  wife  of  one  of  the  soldiers  who  had  fal 
len,  and  was  dragging  her  from  the  path  into  the  thicket. 
A  soldier  in  the  act  to  fire  was  stopped  by  Major  Powell, 
but  the  woman  escaped.  The  Major,  it  is  thought,  lost  the 
self-possession  so  indispensable  to  a  soldier,  and  his  com 
mand,  thrown  into  confusion,  retreated  in  disorder.  Un- 


29 

certain  as  to  the  power,  though  too  fatally  assured  of  the 
prowess  of  his  enemy,  Major  Powell  undoubtedly  experienced 
a  degree  of  fear  which  the  force  of  the  enemy  disclosed  or 
probably  present  did  not  warrant  and  seems  scarcely  to  have 
remembered  that  he  still  commanded  nearly  two  hundred 
veteran  soldiers.  Dispatching  his  surgeon,  who  volunteered 
for  the  occasion,  and  John  Halstead,  a  soldier  of  Spalding's 
company,  who  had  met  him,  and  acted  as  a  guide  to  Colonel 
Butler,  the  German  battalion  was  immediately  called  to  arms 
and  marched  to  the  mountain  to  escort  Major  Powell  and 
his  men  to  the  valley.  Major  Powell,  having  leave  to  resign, 
soon  left  the  army."  (Miner,  p.  263.) 

MAJOR  JOSEPH  PROWELL. 

MAJOR  JOSEPH  PROWELL  was  himself  a  veteran  soldier, 
and,  as  will  appear  later,  did  not  leave  the  army  because  of 
this  event.  He  was  Major  of  the  New  Eleventh  Pennsyl 
vania  regiment.  The  state  of  Pennsylvania  had  thirteen 
regiments  of  the  line  in  service  from  1776  to  1779.  One  of 
these,  the  Eleventh,  had  lost  very  heavily  at  Brandywine, 
and  by  action  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council,  was  in 
corporated  with  the  Tenth  regiment  April,  1778,  as  in  June, 
1 777,  eight  companies  returned  only  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  men  as  ready  for  duty.  Dr.  Egle,  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Archives,  second  series,  volume  X,  p.  777,  says,  that  "On 
the  27th  of  December,  1776,  Congress  passed  a  resolution 
authorizing  General  Washington  to  'raise  and  collect  to 
gether,  in  the  most  speedy  and  effectual  manner,  from  any 
and  all  these  United  States,  sixteen  battalions  of  infantry,  in 
addition  to  those  already  voted  by  Congress,  and  to  appoint 
officers  for  the  said  battalions  of  infantry,  &c.'  On  the  I  ith 
of  January  General  Washington  issued  commissions  and 
authority  to  raise  two  of  these  regiments  to  Lieut.  Col. 
Thomas  Hartley  of  the  Seventh  Pennsylvania,  and  Major 
Patton,  of  Miles'  rifle  regiment.  No  return  of  either  of  these 


30 

regiments  has  been  discovered,  and  very  few  memorials  of 
any  kind,  it  is  believed,  have  survived  the  ravages  of  fire  and 
time.  Hartley's  regiment  was  in  the  First  Pennsylvania 
brigade,  General  Wayne's  division,  Hartley  commanding  the 
brigade  in  the  battles  of  Brandywine  and  Germantown. 
What  its  actual  strength  was  cannot  be  told.  After  these 
actions,  November  i,  1777,  Morgan  Connor  made  a  requi 
sition  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  blankets  for  the  regiment. 
The  regiment  was  ordered  to  Sunbury  about  July  14,  1778, 
and  remained  in  service  on  the  West  Branch  until  incorpor 
ated  with  the  New  Eleventh." 

Colonel  Hartley  resigned  February  13,  1779,  when  Lieut. 
Col.  Adam  Hubley,  Jr.,  took  command  of  the  New  Eleventh. 

"On  the  1 6th  of  December  Congress  resolved  that  Col 
onel  Hartley's  regiment  and  the  four  independent  companies, 
raised  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  commanded  by  Captains 
Doyle,  Wilkins,  Steel  and  Calderwood,  and  also  the  remains 
of  Colonel  Patton's  regiment,  except  Captain  McLane's  com 
pany,  be  incorporated  into  one  regiment,  and  added  to  the 
Pennsylvania  line  as  an  Eleventh  regiment,  and  that  Cap 
tain  McLane's  company  be  annexed  to  the  Delaware  regi 
ment;  subsequently,  January  13,  1779,  this  action  was  re 
considered  and  it  was  resolved  "that  the  regiment  lately 
commanded  by  Colonel  Patton  (Captain  McLane,  his  sub 
alterns,  and  men  raised  in  the  Delaware  state  excepted),  and 
the  independent  companies  raised  in  Pennsylvania,  and  after 
wards  annexed  to  Colonel  Malcolm's  regiment,  be  incorpo 
rated  with  Colonel  Hartley's  regiment,  the  whole  to  form  a 
complete  battalion  on  the  new  establishment,  and  be  added 
to  the  Pennsylvania  line  as  the  Eleventh  regiment  of  that 
state ;  that  the  several  officers  be  arranged  by  the  board  of 
War,  and  enjoy  their  rank  according  to  their  commissions 
or  appointments  respectively." 

The  New  Eleventh  Pennsylvania  returned  June  25,  1779, 
eight  companies  and  two  hundred  and  forty-nine  men.  These 


companies  are  given  in  the  Pennsylvania  Archives,  among 
them  "Captain  McLane's  Delaware  regiment,"  twenty-one 
rank  and  file.  Major  Prowell's  company,  at  that  date,  num 
bered  thirty-six  rank  and  file. 

Major  Joseph  Prowell  was  a  native  of  York  county,  Penn 
sylvania,  where  he  was  born  about  1753.  Commissioned 
captain  of  Col.  John  Patton's  Additional  Continental  regi 
ment  January  11,  1777,  and  promoted  Major  January  I, 
1778.  He  was  transferred  to  Col.  Thomas  Hartley's  New 
Eleventh  Pennsylvania  regiment,  Continental  line,  January 
13,  1779,  retired  June  5,  1779.  It  is  not  at  all  certain  that 
his  resignation  was  in  any  way  related  to  his  failure  to  resist 
the  ambush  at  Laurel  Run,  April  23,  1779.  He  was  surely 
a  gallant  soldier,  having  served  with  his  command  in  the 
two  severely  fought  battles  of  Germantown  and  Brandy- 
wine,  as  well  as  elsewhere.  .It  was  evidently  the  difficulties 
which  arose  from  the  rearrangement  of  the  various  officers 
in  combining  two  commands  which  led  to  his  retirement. 
Colonel  Hubley,  who  commanded  the  New  Eleventh  after 
Hartley's  retirement  in  the  Sullivan  expedition,  wrote  to 
General  Hand,  from  Sunbury,  June  11,  1779:  "A  board  of 
General  Officers  to  determine  the  dispute  of  rank  between 
Major  Prowell  and  the  Captains  of  the  Penn'a  line  deter 
mined  in  favour  of  the  latter,  in  consequence  of  which  he 
will  be  removed  from  the  rank  he  now  holds,  and  a  Senior 
Captain  take  his  place.  *  *  I  am  extremely  sorry  for 
the  loss  of  Major  Prowell;  he  is  a  worthy,  good  officer." 
(Pennsylvania  Archives,  second  series,  xi,  10.) 

Major  Prowell  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Prowell  and  his  wife 
Rachel  Griffith,  who  were  married  in  Old  Swede's  Church, 
Philadelphia,  September  21,  1752,  and  grandson  of  James 
Prowell,  who  emigrated  from  Wales  to  Chester  county,  Pa., 
1715.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  First 
Troop  in  March,  1777,  was  made  Cornet  1783,  Second  Lieu 
tenant  1784-1787,  and  Honorary  member  September  10, 


32 

1787.  Poulson's  Daily  Advertiser,  Philadelphia,  April  6, 
1805,  contains  the  following:  "Died,  on  the  third  instant, 
at  the  seat  of  Capt.  James  Josiah,  Maj.  Joseph  Prowell, 
formerly  an  officer  in  the  American  Army  during  our  revo 
lutionary  war,  and  lately  of  the  Colony  of  Demerara,  where 
he  resided  many  years.  His  remains  were  brought  to  town 
on  Thursday  evening,  and  yesterday  morning  interred  in 
the  Presbyterian  burying  ground."  He  participated  with 
the  Troop  in  the  battle  of  Brandywine.  From  one  of  his 
grandsons  it  is  learned  that : 

"After  the  revolution  he  became  a  prosperous  merchant 
on  the  high  seas,  and  engaged  in  trade  with  many  foreign 
ports.  He  was  taken  sick  on  his  vessel  while  in  the  West 
Indies,  June  4,  1804,  but  having  partially  recovered  he  sailed 
for  Philadelphia,  and  died  at  the  house  of  his  friend,  Capt. 
James  Josiah,  near  Philadelphia,  April  3,  1805,  aged  53.  He 
was  buried  with  the  'honors  of  war'  by  the  City  Troop  of 
Philadelphia.  He  is  remembered  traditionally  as  a  bold, 
daring  and  fearless  officer,  and  had  a  romantic  history.  He 
participated  in  the  sailors'  troubles  with  pirates  of  the  Bar- 
bary  States,  and  afterwards  owned  large  possessions  in  the 
colony  of  Dernaii,  and  the  colony  of  Berbice,  on  the  west 
coast  of  Africa,  where  he  assisted  the  British  government  to 
quell  an  insurrection  in  1803.  His  executors  were  David 
Lennox,  of  Philadelphia,  Robert  and  William  Pulsford,  of 
London,  and  John  Douglass,  of  Berbice,  in  each  of  which 
places  he  had  possessions." 

CAPTAIN  JOSEPH  DAVIS. 

CAPTAIN  JOSEPH  DAVIS  who  was  slain  at  Laurel  Run  April 
23,  1779,  was  a  citizen  of  Philadelphia  county,  afterwards 
Montgomery  county,  Pa.  He  was  first  an  officer  of  Colonel 
Samuel  J.  Atlee's  Pennsylvania  Musketry  battalion,  in  which 
he  was  commissioned  Ensign  March  27,  1776.  He  was  pro 
moted  First  Lieutenant  in  the  Ninth  Pennsylvania  regiment 


33 

August,  1/76.  He  was  also  attached  to  Col.  John  Patton's 
Additional  Continental  regiment  during  this  year,  as  he  was 
reported  by  the  Controller  General  of  Pennsylvania  as  in 
"Patton's  regiment,"  and  as  entitled  to  donation  land  for  his 
service,  but  as  "killed  in  action."  Dr.  Egle  states  that  "it 
is  uncertain  whether  he  did  not  belong  to  Patton's,  as  he  was 
his  brother-in-law."  His  name,  wherever  it  occurs,  has 
"Hartley's  regiment"  to  it,  but  that  may  be  because  he  was 
killed  after  Patton's  was  consolidated  into  Hartley's.  Davis 
was  transferred  to  Hartley's  Additional  regiment  January 
J5>  1 777,  promoted  Captain  June  5,  1778,  and  transferred  to 
the  New  Eleventh  Pennsylvania  regiment  December  16, 
1778,  and  killed  at  Laurel  Run  April  23,  1779.  He  was  a 
brother  of  Capt.  Benjamin  Davis,  of  Montgomery  county, 
Pa.,  who  was  First  Lieutenant  in  the  First  Pennsylvania 
battalion,  Col.  Philip  DeHass,  October  27,  1775,  promoted 
Captain  January  5,  1776,  serving  in  the  Canada  campaign. 
When  this  battalion,  which  in  October,  1776  numbered  five 
hundred  and  forty  rank  and  file,  returned  to  New  German- 
town,  N.  J.,  December,  1776,  it  numbered,  rank  and  file, 
sixty-nine  men,  among  whom  was  Capt.  Benjamin  Davis, 
who  resigned  January  i,  1777.  He  appears  in  the  orderly 
book  of  the  regiment  as  serving  as  "Captain  of  the  Day," 
and  as  "Member  of  the  Court  Martial,"  at  different  times. 
Benjamin  Davis, 'Jr.,  was  Lieutenant  of  the  Philadelphia  Fly 
ing  Camp  1776,  elected  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  City 
Troop  October,  1 778,  Honorary  member  September  10,  1787; 
died  1810,  and  was  probably  the  Benjamin  Davis,  supra. 
Jane  Davis,  sister  of  Capt.  Joseph  Davis,  married  Col.  John 
Patton,  and  died  in  Huntington,  Pa.,  in  1832,  aged  80  years. 
Capt.  Joseph  Davis'  social  standing  may  be  inferred  by 
this  connection,  as  Colonel  Patton  was  a  man  held  in  high 
esteem  by  his  co-patriots. 


34 

COLONEL  JOHN  PATTON. 

COLONEL  JOHN  PATTON  was  born  in  Sligo,  Ireland,  1745. 
He  came  to  Pennsylvania  just  before  the  revolution.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Committee  of  Inspection  and 
Observation,  August  16,  1775  ;  member  of  the  Gloucester 
Fox  Hunting  Club,  1775  ;  Major  of  the  Second  battalion 
Pennsylvania  Rifle  regiment  March  13,  1776,  under  Colonel 
Miles  ;  transferred  as  Major  to  the  Ninth  Pennsylvania  Con 
tinental  line  October  25,  1776  ;  promoted  by  General  Wash 
ington  January  n,  1777,  to  be  Colonel  of  one  of  the  Addi 
tional  regiments  ;  became  member  of  the  Philadelphia  City 
Troop  July  4,  1779,  and  was  placed  on  the  honour  roll  of 
the  troop  September  10,  1787;  was  appointed  one  of  the 
signers  of  Pennsylvania  paper  money  1781.  He  was  also 
elected  a  member  of  the  famous  Schuylkill  Fishing  Com 
pany  of  the  State  of  Schuylkill,  July  23,  1782,  and  was  a 
councillor  from  1783.  He  was  appointed  on  the  Committee 
on  the  defense  of  the  bay  and  Delaware  river  June  26,  1782. 
He  subsequently  became  a  General  of  the  State  militia.  He 
was  also  appointed  auctioneer  for  Philadelphia,  November, 
1787.  In  1790  he  sold  to  the  State,  for  the  modest  sum  of 
,£664  specie  ($3300),  five  acres  of  land  on  Front  street,  Phila 
delphia,  between  Walnut  and  George,  for  the  erection  of  a 
powder  magazine. 

Colonel  Patton,  after  his  resignation,  November,  1777,  was 
employed  as  superintendent  to  purchase  flour  for  the  army. 
When  the  war  ended  he  engaged  in  the  iron  business  with 
Colonel  Miles,  and  built  Centre  furnace  in  Harris  township, 
Centre  county,  where  he  died  1804,  aged  59,  and  was  buried 
in  the  church  yard  at  Boalsburg.  He  was  six  feet  in  height, 
of  noble  appearance  and  carriage,  and  had  red  hair  and 
hazel  eyes.  He  had  a  fine  address  and  polished  manners. 
The  history  of  the  City  Troop  says,  "died  October  25,  1812." 
(page  179.) 

The  Davis  family  were  doubtless  Welsh  Baptists,  as  the 


35 

marriage  of  Colonel  Patton  is  recorded  in  the  list  of  mar 
riages  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia.  He  was 
married  by  the  Rev.  William  Rogers,  D.  D.,  who  records 
the  event  thus  :  "Col.  John  Patton  and  Jane  Davis,  both  of 
Philadelphia,  March  7,  1777."  Dr.  Rogers  was  then  chap 
lain  of  Colonel  Miles'  regiment,  as  well  as  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church. 

Colonel  Patton  and  Jane  Davis  had  eleven  children,  viz : 

1.  Rachel,  born  May  9,  1779,  married  John  Rose,  a  Scotch 

man  and  lawyer.     She  died and  Rose  married, 

2d,  Sarah  Scott,  who  became  the  mother  of  Isabella 
Rose,  the  wife  of  Chief  Justice  Grier,  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  thus  grandmother  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Grier  Mayer, 
the  widow  of  that  beloved  physician,  Dr.  Edward  R. 
Mayer,  of  this  city,  once  a  V.  President  of  this  Society. 

2.  William,  born  August  8,  1781,  married  Henrietta  An 

thony,  and  died  at  Wellsboro. 

3.  John,  born  February  8,  1783,  married  Susanna  Antes, 

daughter  of  Philip  Antes,  and  granddaughter  of  Col 
onel  Antes  of  Northumberland  county.  He  was  As 
sociate  Judge  of  Clearfield  county;  laid  out  Pattons- 
ville,  1815  ;  moved  to  Tioga  county,  1817,  and  was 
prothonotary  of  Tioga  county.  He  was  father  of  Gen. 
John  Patton  of  Curwensville,  twice  member  United 
States  Congress.  (Meginness  Bio.,  Ann.  p.  16.) 

4.  Francis. 

5.  Benjamin. 

6.  Joseph. 

7.  Edward. 

8.  Ann,  married,  1814,  John  Lyon,  and  died  1817,  leaving 

one  son. 

9.  Jane. 

10.  Samuel,  married  Mary  Norris,  daughter  of  John  N.  Nor- 

ris,  cashier  of  the  Bellefonte  bank. 

11.  Ellen. 


LIEUTENANT  WILLIAM  JONES. 

LIEUTENANT  WILLIAM  JONES  was  probably  born  at  or  near 
Newark,  New  Castle  county,  Delaware,  and  was  a  resident  of 
Kent  county,  Delaware,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revo 
lution.  It  is  supposed  that  he  was  related  to  or  descended 
from  the  same  stock  as  Surgeon  James  Jones  of  the  Fourth 
and  Sixth  Pennsylvania  Continental  regiments,  and  who, 
after  the  Revolution,  was  a  resident  of  Smyrna,  Kent  county, 
Delaware,  and  an  original  member  of  the  Delaware  Cincin- 
natti.  The  Jones  family  were  originally  of  Welsh  descent, 
and  had  been  settled  at  Newark  for  many  years  prior  to  the 
Revolution  ;  Surgeon  James  Jones  being  the  son  of  James 
and  Susanna  Jones  of  that  place.  Their  descendants  still 
continue  to  reside  at  Smyrna.  Commodore  Jacob  Jones, 
U.  S.  N.,  of  the  war  of  1812,  was  also  from  Smyrna,  and 
presumably  of  the  same  family. 

Lieutenant  William  Jones  was  commissioned  Second  Lieu 
tenant  of  Captain  Allan  McLane's  Partisan  Company  of 
Foot  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  January  13,  1777. 
This  company  was  raised  in  Delaware.  In  the  roster  of  the 
company  for  March,  April,  May  and  June,  1779,  it  num 
bered,  rank  and  file,  thirty-one  men.  This  company  served 
faithfully  and  bravely  throughout  the  war,  and  was  in  all 
the  battles  of  the  Northern  Department,  and  in  the  battle  of 
Yorktown.  It  is  not  known  who  succeeded  Lieutenant 
Jones  in  the  company ;  but  as  the  history  of  the  company 
prior  to  his  death  is  also  his  personal  history,  it  is  worth 
recounting.  Captain  Allan  McLane  was  the  father  of  Hon. 
Louis  McLane  and  Dr.  Allan  McLane,  both  distinguished 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States  and  of  Delaware.  Many 
references  to  the  services  of  McLane's  Partisans  occur  in  the 
history  of  the  war.  From  a  diary  preserved  among  the 
Moravian  records  at  Bethlehem  we  learn,  under  May  9,  1777, 
that  "  Col.  [Allan]  McLane  with  a  troop  of  horse  reached 


37 

here  from  Philadelphia,  expecting  to  find  Lady  Washington, 
who  he  was  to  escort  hence.  She  had,  however,  struck  off 
on  the  Durham  road  and  thus  missed  Bethlehem."  (Penn'a 
Mag.  of  Hist.,  xii,  399.) 

McLane's  company  had  the  distinguished  honor  of  strik 
ing;  the  first  blow  at  the  British  at  Germantown  when  Wash- 

o 

ington  had  advanced  two  regiments  to  oppose  Howe.  Gen 
eral  Wilkinson,  in  his  Memoirs,  thus  describes  the  action  : 
"If  the  darkness  of  the  night  had  deranged  the  march  of  the 
American  troops,  a  very  thick  fog  in  the  morning  tended 
to  keep  up  the  distraction.  That  meritorious  veteran,  Col. 
Allan  McLane,  who  for  activity,  enterprise,  daring  resolu 
tion  and  efficient  service  was  surpassed  by  no  officer  of  his 
grade  in  the  Revolution,  at  that  time  a  Captain,  led  the  ad 
vance  patrol  of  the  centre,  and  being  well  acquainted  with 
the  ground  and  the  position  of  the  enemy,  attempted  to  sur 
prise  their  picket,  but  fell  in  with  double  sentries,  whom  he 
killed,  with  a  loss  of  one  man,  and  soon  after  routed  the 
guard."  (Memoirs,  I,  363.) 

It  was  also  McLane's  company  that  saved  Lafayette  from 
capture  at  Barren  Hill,  near  Philadelphia. 

Marshall,  in  his  Life  of  Washington,  states  that  "General 
Grant,  the  British  commander,  having  been  informed  that 
the  Marquis  had  taken  possession  near  Barren  Hill  church, 
some  eight  or  ten  miles  in  front  of  his  army,  endeavored, 
May  10,  1778,  with  5,000  men,  select  troops,  to  surprise 
and  cut  him  off.  Captain  McLane,  a  vigilant  partisan  of 
great  merit,  was  posted  on  the  line  some  distance  in  front 
of  Barren  Hill.  In  the  course  of  the  night  he  fell  in  with 
two  British  grenadiers  at  Three  Mile  Run,  who  informed 
him  of  the  movement  made  by  Grant,  and  also  that  a  large 
body  of  Germans  were  getting  ready  to  march  up  the 
Schuylkill.  Immediately  conjecturing  the  object,  McLane 
detached  Captain  Parr  with  a  company  of  riflemen  across  the 
country  to  Wanderer's  Hill  with  orders  to  harass  and  retard 


38 

the  column  advancing  up  the  Schuylkill,  and  hasten  in  per 
son  to  the  camp  of  Lafayette.  He  arrived  soon  after  day 
light  and  communicated  the  intelligence  he  had  received.  It 
was  not  long  afterwards  confirmed  by  the  fire  of  Parr  on  the 
Ridge  road,  and  by  an  inhabitant  who  had  escaped  from 
White  Marsh  as  the  British  column  passed  that  place.  Thus 
surrounded  with  danger,  Lafayette  took  with  promptitude 
and  decision  the  only  course  which  could  preserve  him." 

General  Alexander  Scammell,  the  Adjutant  General  at 
Valley  Forge,  wrote  to  McLane,  May  21,  thus : 

"  Dear  Captain  :  I  am  happy  you  have  with  your  brave 
little  party  conducted  with  so  much  honor  to  yourself.  The 
Marquis  effected,  owing  to  your  vigilence,  a  glorious  retreat 
as  well  as  a  difficult  one." 

Brigadier  General  Scott  also  wrote  him  to  the  same  effect. 

Lieutenant  William  Jones  was  commissioned  on  the  same 
day  with  his  gallant  Captain  McLane.  The  latter  had  won 
his  promotion  by  his  intrepid  valor  at  Princeton,  and  it  is 
very  probable  that  Lieutenant  Dunn  and  Lieutenant  Jones, 
who  were  both  promoted  on  the  same  day,  had  participated 
with  McLane  in  the  action  at  Princeton. 

Watson,  in  his  "Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  gives  several 
very  interesting  and  daring  exploits  of  McLane  and  his  men 
while  the  city  was  held  by  the  British  (ii,  321,  322,  323),  as 
does  also  Christopher  Marshall. 

Marshall  states,  when  General  Howe  evacuated  Philadel 
phia,  June  1 8,  1/78,  that  "as  the  British  army  moved  down 
Second  street,  Captain  McLane,  with  a  few  light  horse  and 
one  hundred  infantry,  entered  the  city  and  cut  of  and  cap 
tured  one  Captain,  one  Provost  Marshall,  one  guide  to  the 
army,  and  thirty  privates,  without  losing  a  man."  (i,  250.) 

By  the  act  of  the  Executive  Council  of  Delaware,  June 
i,  1779,  McLane's  company  was  annexed  to  the  Delaware 
regiment,  (p.  424.) 

I  have  been  unable  to  identify  Corporal  Butler,  but  the 


39 

roster  of  the  New  Eleventh  Pennsylvania  gives  the  names 
of  James  Butler  and  William  Butler  as  private  soldiers, 
either  of  whom  may  have  been  the  corporal  who  was  slain  on 
the  23d  of  April,  1779.  The  roster  records  the  killing  of 
Captain  Davis  on  that  day,  and  the  roster  of  McLane's 
company,  in  the  "  History  of  the  Delaware  State  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,"  gives  the  death  of  Lieutenant  Jones  at 
Wyoming  by  the  Indians,  April  19,  1779. 

Of  Captain  Allan  McLane's  Company  the  following  ros 
ter  is  taken  from  Whiteley's  History  of  Delaware  in  the 
Revolution,  (pp. —  — ) 

Captain,  Allan  McLane,  commissioned  January  13,  1777. 

1st  Lieutenant,  A.  M.  Dunn,  commissioned  January  13, 
1777. 

2d  Lieutenant,  William  Jones,  commissioned  January  13, 
1777.  Killed  Wyoming  April  19,  1779. 

ist  Sergeant,  John  Edenfield. 

2d  Sergeant,  John  Hegan. 

3d  Sergeant,  George  Rowan. 

4th  Sergeant,  Robert  Farrell. 

ist  Corporal,  Matthew  Cusick  [became  fifer,  8th  com 
pany,  Eleventh  Pennsylvania]. 

2d  Corporal,  John  Vandergrift. 

Drummer,  Philip  Meylon. 

Fifer,  Eleazar  Crane  [drew  compensation  for  depreciated 
pay  in  Pennsylvania.] 

PRIVATES. 
Barret  Alley. 

Francis  Bilstone. 
Lidford  Berry. 
James  Burk. 

John  Butcher  [drew  compensation  for  depreciated  pay  in 
Pennsylvania]. 
Ezekiel  Clark. 
Lazarus  Carmedy. 


40 

Patrick  Dagney  [served  in  the  6th  company,  Eleventh 
Pennsylvania]. 

Thomas  Finn  [served  in  Capt.  Jonathan  Caldwell's  Com 
pany,  "Blue  Hen's  Chickens,"  1776]. 

Edward  Hines. 

Harry  Harneyman. 

James  Longo. 

Moses  McLane  [drew  compensation  for  depreciated  pay 
in  Pennsylvania]. 

Charles  McMunugill. 

Thomas  Parker  [served  also  in  Hartley's  Regiment]. 

John  Rowles. 

William  Stratton. 

Robert  Solloway  [served  also  under  Capt.  Jonathan  Cald- 
well,  Delaware  Regiment]. 

Perry  Scott. 

Thomas  Wells  [drew  compensation  for  depreciated  pay 
in  Pennsylvania]. 

Fourth  Sergeant  Robert  Farrell  also  served  later  in  Capt. 
Jonathan  Caldwell's  Company,  "Blue  Hen's  Chickens,"  Del 
aware  Regiment. 

Of  Col.  Allan  McLane  an  excellent  sketch  will  be  found 
in  the  "  History  of  the  Delaware  State  Society  of  the  Cin 
cinnati,"  by  Capt.  Henry  Hobart  Bellas,  U.  S.  A. 

LIEUTENANT  ABNER  MARTIN  DUNN 

LIEUTENANT  ABNER  MARTIN  DUNN,  First  Lieutenant  of 
McLane's  company,  it  appears,  from  Dr.  Egle's  Pennsylva 
nia  Archives,  was  commissioned  Ensign  in  Capt.  Rudolph 
Bunner's  company,  Second  Pennsylvania  battallion,  Col. 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  November  11,  1776.  He  was  commis 
sioned  First  Lieutenant  January  13,  1777,  and  transferred 
as  aid-de-camp  to  Col.  John  Patton  during  that  year,  in  his 
Additional  regiment.  He  was  commissioned  Lieutenant 
Ninth  Pennsylvania  May  31,  1779.  He  was  transferred  to 


the  Fifth  Pennsylvania  January  17,  1781,  and  to  the  Second 
Pennsylvania  January  I,  1783.  He  is  found  again  in  the 
First  Pennsylvania  September  23,  1783.  He  also  appears 
to  have  received  compensation  for  depreciated  pay.  In  the 
roster  of  the  Ninth  Pennsylvania,  dated  June  17,  1777,  he 
is  called  "of  Captain  McLane's  company,  late  Colonel  Pat- 
ton's  regiment,  transferred  to  Fifth  Pennsylvania,  January 
17,  1781."  He  received  warrant  number  790  for  200  acres 
of  land  in  Mercer  county,  Pennsylvania,  1787,  and  number 
1645  for  200  acres  in  Crawford  and  Venango  counties,  for 
his  military  services  as  Second  Lieutenant,  Second  Penn 
sylvania  Infantry.  (Report  of  the  Controller  General  of 
Pennsylvania,  Pennsylvania  Archives,  3d  Series,  iii,  437.) 

Lieutenant  Abner  Martin  Dunn  and  his  brother,  Major 
Isaac  B.  Dunn,  of  General  St.  Clair's  staff,  were  members  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  Lieutenant 
Abner  Dunn's  certificate  of  membership  in  the  Cincinnati 
Society  is  still  in  possession  of  the  family,  and  in  excellent 
condition.  Abner  married,  about  1790,  Priscilla  Tyler, 
youngest  child  of  Edward  Tyler,  of  Jefferson  county,  Ken 
tucky,  and  had  an  only  child,  Amelia  Ann,  who  married, 
about  1810,  Amos  Goodwin,  of  the  same  county  and  state. 
They  had  (GOODWIN) — 

1.  Isaac   II.  B.,  who  had  William   Goodwin  (s.  p.),  and 
Amos  Goodwin,  who  left  issue. 

2.  Mary  Wallace,  who  married,  1838,  Thomas  Ware  Gib 
son,  whose  mother  was  Sarah  Clark,  of  Salem  county,  New 
Jersey,  and  was  said  to  be  a  descendant  of  Abraham  Clark, 
one  of  the   Signers  of  the   Declaration  of  Independence. 
They  had  Charles  H.,  born  1849,  and  George  H.  D. 

3.  Columbus,  who  has  four  sons  living. 

Mr.  Amos  Goodwin  had  also  three  other  daughters. 


Photomount 
Pamphlet 

Binder 
Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 
Stockton,  Calif. 

PAT.  JAN.  21.  1908 


YD    12310 


689421 


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